MEA: Corridor talks only to fulfil wishes of Sikhs

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 4

The Ministry of External Affairs today said India had agreed to the second round of official-level talks with Pakistan on the Kartarpur corridor to fulfil the wishes of the Sikh community.

India had refused to agree to the second round for over three months on grounds that the Pakistan government had nominated Khalistani sympathisers on their panel for the corridor.

In a turnaround, India recently offered a block of dates for Pakistan to choose from and the neighbouring nation opted for July 14; the talks would be held on the Pakistani side of the Attari-Wagah border.

Asked if India had broken the stalemate because Pakistan had dropped the Khalistani sympathisers, MEA spokesperson Ravish Kumar said, “We will discuss those as well. This is a matter of sentiment and we are fulfilling wishes of Sikh community.’’

India had pulled out of the second round of talks scheduled for April 2 because of the nomination of Khalistani supporters Maninder Singh, Tara Singh, Bisan Singh and Gopal Singh Chawla.

While India has reversed its stand of boycotting official meetings till the Khalistani supporters are dropped from the panel, it remains skeptical about the flurry of steps announced against Lashkar-e-Taiba chief and 2008 Mumbai attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed.